The brash London estate agent, which has bounced back from near-collapse, is making more than it did at the market peak

Fridges full of brightly coloured drinks, flat-screen televisions — the east London branch of Foxtons is big and brash. Staff at the estate agency, which notched up record profits last week, were equally confident.

August was a high for the Shoreditch office, a salesman boasted. “We’re selling flats in 48 hours. If you get your head down and work hard here, you can do very well.”

Foxtons has bounced back from its near-collapse during the financial crisis. The company, which laboured under huge debts until it was rescued 18 months ago, is booming again. Pre-tax profits more than doubled to £35.4m last year, driven by stringent cost cutting and tweaks to the business model. Sales rose 16% and bosses shared £1.5m.

The results — better than Foxtons recorded at the peak of the property boom in 2007 — are all the more surprising given the weakness of the housing market. Deal volumes in